Craig and Sue were busy pondering the art of storytelling and how ‘once upon a time’ can be the start of something very special.
Storytelling is a key communication skill, whether at home or at work. Storytelling can help you engage your audience so much better than just listing facts, reading statements or perusing figures. Storytelling allows people to connect, identify with and remember what they’ve just heard, seen or read.
Storytelling is also an art. There are many different styles but one of the ancient arts of storytelling is the Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry. It consists of three lines of poetry; the first and last lines have five syllables and the middle line has seven syllables. We challenged ourselves to see if we could produce a Rambutan version. After a few, unsuccessful attempts we then discovered the urban legend (never substantiated) that according to Ernest Hemingway, six-word stories are a way to tell your story quickly. His example is: ‘For sale, baby shoes, never worn.’
This was more up our street, so here’s our Rambutan suggestions… our six versions of six-word stories:
• inspiration created. Fire ignited. I’m promoted
• stood in a crowd. Loneliness follows
• drummer becomes neighbour. House for sale
• from tiny seeds grow mighty Rambutans
• conflicting team. Listening intensified. Vision achieved
• boy meets girl. Wanted, baby’s shoes (although the original attributed to Hemingway was beautifully written we wanted to respond with something that makes you feel a bit warmer)
A couple of our bloopers
• great leaders create attachment by telling stories (oops that’s seven!)
• successful leaders love their people (oh no, this is five!)
What six-word stories can you tell? #nationalstorytellingweek
